Trail grader



Sept. 27, 1960 c. B. MERRY 2,953,353

' TRAIL GRADER Filed March 22, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VEN TOR. CLAYTON E. MERRY ATwowHr-xs p 1960 c. B. M ERRY 2,953,863

TRAIL GRADER Filed March 22, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2- INVENTOR. CLWTON B. MERRV ATTQR nevs its rates,

TRAIL GRADER Filed Mar. 22, 1956, Ser. No. 573,295 1 Claim. 01. 37-108 The present invention relates to a self-propelled grader principally designed for building new trails, fire lines, and maintaining existing trails, and arranged to be controlled with ease by two operators walking therewith at fore and aft stations.

As an important object the invention aims to provide such a grader which will not only break up the earth but at the same time will spread the loosened earth.'

The invention further aims to provide a grader which can be used to transport attachments, tools, and supplies at walking speed to and from the work site along even a very narrow trail.

Furthermore, the invention aims to provide such a grader which is of light weight, durable and economical construction, and which gives every consideration for safety of operation.

With yet additional objects and advantages in View which, with the foregoing, will appear and be understood in the course of the following description and claim, the invention consists in the novel construction and in the adaptation and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of my grader.

Fig. 2 is a right side elevational view of the grader with certain parts of the frame broken away. i

Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical sectional'view to an enlarged scale taken on line 33 of Fig. 2. 9

Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 2. V

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken as indicated by line 55 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary top plain view of the gear box with parts of the structure broken away and taken as noted by line 66 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary transverse sectionalview taken on line 77 of Fig. 4. V V

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view illustrating the clutching for the secondary shaft and taken on line 88 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 9 is a horizontal sectional view taken on line 99 of Fig. 2. p

Referring to thedrawings it is seen that my trail digger has the general appearance of a mobile stretcher in that it has pairs of tubular handles 10, 11 and 12, 13 extending fore and aft, respectively, from an open frame work supported on a laterally centered propulsion wheel 9. The framework has upper and lower pairs of tubular side rails 14, 15 which are welded at their rear ends to the rear handles 12, 13 and are interconnected at their forward ends by sloped tube sections 16.

Directing attention to Fig.2, it is seen that the forward handles 10, 11 are cross-braced and have pivotal connections with ears 17 upstanding from the upper side rails 14. Bolts 18 are provided to be set in any of multi ple holes 20 in adjustment plates 21 extending downwardly from the forward handles. These holes can be selectively alined with a bolt hole in respective lugs 22 secured to the underside of the rails 14 to thereby adjust the tilt of the forward handles with respect to the frame.

A motor 19 is mounted on cross-braces 23, 24 and provides the power for the wheel 9 and a cutter disc 25 located forwardly of the wheel. This disc is carried at the lower end of an output shaft 26 which depends from a gear box 27. Two forward cross-braces 28, 29 support a pair of longitudinal channel rails 30 which in turn carry a pair of vertical gudgeon plates 31. As shown in Fig. 4, the gear box 27 has a pair of bosses 32 which project as trunnions into the plates 31 to make pivotal connections therewith so that the gear box, and hence the cuttershaft 26, can be tilted in the fore and aft direction with respect to the frame. The left-hand gudgeon plate has adjustment holes 33 therein for receiving a bolt 34 which is threaded into the respective end wall of the gear box. The holes 33 are arranged so that the cutting disc can be set at selected angles of approximately 20 and 35, the first of these angles being for trail building and maintenance and the latter for fireline cutting.

The drive shaft 35 of the motor extends transversely of the grader and carries a pair of pulleys 36 from whence belts 37 extend forwardly to pulleys 38 mounted on the left-hand end of an idler shaft 40. This shaft is journaled in ball-bearing units mounted in pedestals 41, 42 which are based on a cross-plate 43 extending between the lower .side rails 15. At its right-hand end the idler shaft carries pulleys 44 which complement pulleys 45 mounted on the input shaft 46 for the gear box. Belts 47 transfer power from the pulleys 44 to pulleys 45 and are tensioned by rollers 45. These rollers are carried at the upper end of an arm 48 pivoted to an upright strut 50 extending between the right-hand channel rail 30 and a slope-d brace 51. This brace is provided for the pedestal 41 and is rooted on the forward cross-brace 28. The other pedestal 42 is braced from the left-hand side rail 14 by arms 52.

Located rearwardly of the idler shaft 40 is a secondary shaft 53 which is journaled in pedestals 54, 55, best shown this forward sprocket drives a stub shaft 61 having its outer end journaled in a bearing carried by the pedestal 41. This pedestal 41 is also. a drive housing for a sprocket 62. For this reason it is composed of a hat section having its legs vertical and faced toward the drive case 56 where they are boltedto a plate resting against the drive case. The pedestal 41 is covered at the top and open at the bottom due to'a cutout in the cross-plate 43 for the passage of a chain 63 from the sprocket 62. This chain drives, at a further speed reduction, at sprocket 64 mounted on the axle 65 of the wheel 9. 'As best seen in Fig. 9, the axle 65 is journal-supported at the left end by channel member 66 and at the right end by a casing section for housing the lower portion of the chain 63 and the sprocket 64. This casing section is of similar construction to the pedestal 41 in that it comprises a hat section 67,closed at the bottom, and a cover plate 68'bolted thereto.

Drive from the idler shaft 40 to the secondary shaft 53 is selective in that'two complementary sets of pulleys are provided thereon for a belt 70. The left set 71, 72

increases the speed ratio" of the power'transfer to the,

secondary shaft so that thewheel 9' will be driven at approximately walking speed, about 5 m. p.h., whereas the right set 73, 74, when the belt70 is shifted thereto, decreases such speed ratio so that the whcel will be driven more slowly at about-1% m.p.h. It will be appreciated that the higher speed is ideal for transporting the unit to and from a work site and the lower speed is intended for use during a" trail grading operation.

The gear box 27 is provided so that the direction of rotation of the cutter disc 25 can be reversed at will and its exact manner of construction is of little import as long as the ear box gives reliable performance and can be pivoted about an axis coinciding with the rotary axis of its input shaft. In this latter regard it will be noted that the bosses 32 receive the input shaft 4-6 so that the gear box can be tilted about the bosses without causing a change in the tension of the belts 47 driving the input shaft. The upper end of the output shaft 26 is pinned to a bevel gear 75 which selectively meshes with bevel gears 76-76. The hubs of the latter are sleeved onto the hubs of opposed clutch jaws 77-77 running free on the input shaft 46. Between these clutch jaws is mounted a shuttle 78 which is splined to the input shaft and presents a jaw complement 80 for each of the jaws 77. A shift block 81 interfits with the shuttle and is slidably mounted on a rod 82 suspended from the lid of the gear box. This rod has three circumferential grooves 33 for selectively receiving a spring-urged ball 79 carried by the shift block so that the clutch will hold in neutral, as viewed in Fig. 4, or in either of its engaged positions corresponding to a shifting of the shift block and shuttle 78 to the right or left. The shift block 81 is actuated by a clutch lever 59 which is pivotally mounted above the gear box and is rigidly connected with one end of a shift lever 60 by a pivot 85 passing through the top of the gear box. As shown in Fig. 6, the other end of the shift lever is forked to receive a pin 84 upstanding from the shift block.

The cutter disc 25 may be formed with teeth 86 about its periphery which are tilted downwardly slightly and good results are obtained if a few are also tilted upwardly at spaced intervals. In many terrains very satisfactory performance is obtained when a cutter disc is used which has no teeth. The hub 87 for the cutter disc is locked to the shaft 26 by a detachable pin 99 and has a pair of radially extending ring plates 88, 89 to the lower of which the cutter disc is rigidly secured. These ring plates are radially slotted at 120 degree intervals to receive co-acting anchoring and clamping plates 90, 91, respectively. Both of these plates extend above the upper ring plate 89 and the anchoring plate extends by a section of reduced height further between the ring plates and is Welded thereto. Sweeping vanes 92 are clamped by bolts 93 between the sets of anchoring and clamping plates 90, 91. These vanes have their inner ends contoured to fit between the ring plates and may be formed from a relatively stifi rubberized material. The significant point about the material of the sweeping vanes is that the vanes should be stiff enough to sweep or throw dirt and gravel loosened by the cutter disc and yet elastic enough to yield when engaging a boulder or some other unusually heavy object.

In addition to the clutch in the gear box 27, the grader is also equipped with primary and secondary clutches taking the form of belt-tension idlers for the belts 37 and belt 70, respectively. The primary clutch is provided for over-all control and the secondary clutch to allow independent wheel clutching for stop and go propulsion with or without the cutter disc turning. The primary clutch idlers, denoted 94, are located just forwardly of the engine pulleys 36' and are carried by a pair of pivoted arms 95 as shown in Fig. 3. A cable 96 extends from the left of these arms rearwardly to a clutch control lever 97 pivotally mounted on the left rear handle 13. The right rear handle 12 has a clutch control lever 98 for the secondary clutch, and a cable 100 carries from this lever to a crank 101 which is secured near the right end of a cross-rod 102 journaled at its ends. Near its left end this cross-rod has a pair of idler arms 103 for an idler 104 which is located forwardly adjacent the pulley 72 and is arranged to tension the belt 70 when it is driven by pulley 71 on the idler shaft. A second idler 105 is provided for the belt 70 when it is driving from the idler shaft pulley 73 to pulley 74. This idler 105 is carried by pivoted arms 106 carried by a short crossrod 107. A link 108 interconnects the arms 106 with the arms 103 so that pressure on the clutch control lever 98 causes both idlers 104 and 105 to move into belt tensioning position regardless of which pulley 72, 74 the belt 70 is driving.

Also pivotally mounted on the right rear handle 12 is a brake control lever 106. The brake proper comprises a pulley 107' carried at the right end of the secondary shaft 53 and a complementing wedging arm 108' carried by a cross-rod 110. This cross-rod is actuated by a crank 111 which is interconnected with the brake control lever by a cable 112. A spring 113 acts on the crank 111 such as to yieldingly hold the wedging arm 108 out of engagement with the face of the brake pulley 107. The eifect of the brake when applied is, of course, to lock the secondary shaft 53 and this in turn prevents turning of the wheel 9 since there is a chain drive from the secondary shaft to the wheel. The only remaining control for the grader is a throttle control lever 114 on the left rear handle which interconnects by a cable 115 with the throttle on the motor 9.

In operation my trail grader is handled by two forwardly facing operators, one grasping the front handles 10, 11 and the other the rear handles 12, 13. The rear operator normally starts and stops the engine and operates the control levers on the rear handles. With his left hand he controls the engine speed by the throttle control lever 114 and engages the primary clutch by pressing the lever 97 to transfer power to the idler shaft 40. Similarly, with his right hand the rear operator selectively presses levers 98 and 106 to, respectively, transfer power to the wheel or brake the wheel. It is important to note that for purposes of safety the wheel and cutter disc cannot receive power unless the rear operator is pressing clutch control lever 97 against handle 12. The forward operator selects the trail, shifts the clutch lever 59 of the gear box to determine the direction of rotation of the cutter disc, and controls the depth of cut of the disc by raising or lowering the front handles so as to pivot the machine about the wheel 9. In some instances it is desirable to have the cutter disc laterally tilted and this can most easily be accomplished and observed by the rear operator.

As the lead edge of the cutter disc 25 advances into the earth the earth material is so loosened that the rotating vanes 92 are able to sweep or throw the surplus loosened material to one side of the path of the grader. The particular side is dependent upon the direction of rotation of the output shaft. For example, if the vanes 92 are rotating in the clockwise direction when the cutter disc is viewed from above, the earth material will be swept to the righthand side. In the same example, the reactive force due to the rotation of the cutter disc and vanes will tend to move the forward part of the frame, of the grader to the left, or in other words, oppositely with respect to the direction that the surplus earth is moved by the vanes. The real significance of this example will be understood if it is now assumed that while the cutter disc is turning clockwise the grader is moving along a hillside which slopes upwardly to the left. In such a case the surplus earth will be swept by the vanes as fill to the low side of the trail being graded and the grader will hug the hillside because of the afore-mentioned reactive force due to the clockwise rotation. Similarly, if the hillside slopes upwardly to the right of the operators, the forward operator should shift the'clutch lever 59 on the gear box so that the cutter disc and the assorted vanes 92 are reversed to turn in the counter-clockwise direction;

I have found that a 16 inch cutter disc is desirable for fire trail cutting and that an 18 inch disc is excellent for trail building and maintenance. An 8.6 H.P. engine gives adequate power. The cutter discs 25 can be readily removed by virtue of the removable pin 99. They are normally removed and the gear box pivoted to elevate its output shaft rearwardly toward the wheel 9 when the grader is to be driven to or from a work site. In such a case one or more cutter discs can be transported in the open frame of the grader along with fuel, tools, supplies, etc.

The advantages of the invention, it is thought, will have been clearly understood from the foregoing detailed description of the illustrated preferred embodiment. Minor changes will suggest themselves and may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention, wherefore it is my intention that no limitations be implied and that the hereto annexed claim be given a scope fully commensurate with the broadest interpretation to which the employed language admits.

What I claim is:

In a trail grader, an elongated frame assembly having front and rear handle means centered laterally of the frame assembly relative to a longitudinal axis thereof which is normally parallel to the ground surface, endless rotary traction means journal mounted on the frame assembly and located directly beneath said axis, said traction means being arranged to propel the grader forwardly and normally being the sole ground support therefor, a rotary earth cutting disc, a shaft operatively carrying said disc at its lower end and journal mounted on the frame assembly for rotation about a rotary axis intersecting said longitudinal axis and sloping downwardly and rearwardly relative thereto between said front handle means and said traction means to bring the front portion of said disc into earth cutting position, earth moving vanes surmounting said disc and operatively associated with said shaft to turn therewith and thereby move earth loosened by said disc to one side of the travel path of the grader, means mounted on said frame assembly and operatively associated with said shaft for turning the shaft selectively in either direction of rotation whereby the torque resulting from rotation of said cutting disc and vanes can be used to force the grader toward a hillside along which it is making a cut and the vanes can be used simultaneously to move loosened earth oppositely toward the down side of said cut regardless of the direction of travel of the grader relative to the hill.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,095,097 Fournet Apr. 28, 1914 1,274,927 Moon Aug. 6, 1918 1,506,042 Bauer Aug. 26, 1924 2,061,585 Meyer Nov. 24, 1936 2,207,854 Foreman et al. July 16, 1940 2,410,273 Deubner Oct. 29, 1946 2,411,544 Kehl Nov. 26, 1946 2,560,443 Hosford July 10, 1951 2,670,668 Konig Mar. 2, 1954 2,679,703 Borel June 1, 1954 2,752,700 Tanner July 3, 1956 2,798,314 Brite July 9, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 368,380 France Oct. 4, 1906 104,922 Great Britain Mar. 23, 1917 891,333 Germany Sept. 28, 1953 

